Letters to the Editor March 5, 2013

Democrats grease palms of rich even more than GOP

Your chosen cartoon for the Feb. 28 edition was disgusting! Cartoons should be to poke fun/make a political point, but you have chosen, instead, to toe the Obama line and paint Republicans as only interested in the “rich” at the expense of the rest of us.

You know this is blatantly false, and you know that the Democrats grease the palms of the “rich” probably even more, as evidenced by the last election.

Let’s show a little class and get down to the truths of what we must do to save this nation. Politics ad infinitum just won’t do it.

God bless America and whatever great leaders may be still in hiding. Let’s get positive and find solutions!

Lilyan Wood, Crescent City

Lack of judgment in letting accused officer work

I recently heard from a friend of mine in county government that the chief probation officer has returned to his work, despite being charged with embezzling law enforcement training funds to fund a gambling habit (“Still a defendant, official reinstated”).

It shows an amazing lack of good judgment on the part of the Board of Supervisors. If he is convicted, the issue may be admissible in any case in which he is called as a law enforcement witness, because embezzlement is a crime of moral turpitude. It shows a lack of honesty and trustworthiness.

It is fine to be on administrative leave until the case reaches a verdict, but it undermines confidence in the justice system to reinstate him to his duties, and Supervisor Hemmingsen’s comment that it’s just like getting a speeding ticket is ridiculous.

Lathe Gill, Santa Rosa

Rush to judgment on guns only OK on the left?

I just finished reading the Feb. 28 Triplicate editorial, “A rush to judgment with gun resolution.”

What would you call the present administration’s call to ban certain firearms within days of the tragic event in Newtown?

I guess a “rush to judgment” is OK, only if you’re on the left side of the aisle.

Richard Cola, Smith River

Scare tactics being used to prevent wasteful spending

Cut the fear mongering and cut the spending. The president and other big government politicians in Washington, D.C. have jumped the shark. They are using the most juvenile scare tactics imaginable to intimidate American families into opposing the sequester cuts. For instance, they tell us that air traffic control will be devastated, delaying flights and risking passenger safety. At the same time, the FAA spends money to investigate some college kids doing the “Harlem Shake” on an airplane, even though they had the crew’s permission.

Tax-and-spend politicians threaten us with unsafe food, while at the same time pouring $300,000 into a program to promote caviar consumption. The examples go on, and on, and on.

We all agree that the federal government shouldn’t waste our hard-earned wages on things like caviar consumption — especially while so many of us are still hurting. We understand that politicians like Nancy Pelosi are trying to frighten us into opposing any future cuts to spending by making this round of cuts as painful as possible. This means they want government to perform worse than it usually does, all so they can prove a point! That’s not how a “public servant” is supposed to serve.

A lobbyist recently told the Washington Post that the most catastrophic outcome from sequester would be if nothing bad happened at all. You see, they want bad things to happen. Their fear mongering is disgraceful.